His pre-heat beach stance works great on the putting green as well!
The King spends a lot of time working on his golf game. And after years of knocking away at pro-am leaderboards, he has been called up to the big leagues: in a release, Team USA of the ICONS Cup proudly announced Kelly Slater as the newest addition to their already hyper-talented team.
Professional Golfer Fred Couples will captain a strong Team USA comprised of legendary American athletes. Their competition? The Rest of The World. (No, seriously.) The event, conceived by Worldwide Sports & Entertainment, LTd., will be held from April 22 through April 24 at the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.
Back in 2010, Slater told SURFER, “Golf is the greatest game in the world.” And his love for the game shows. Over the years, he has built some serious clout on the celebrity circuit, so much so that he became a brand ambassador for Puma Golf this past February. In 2009, Golf Digest ranked Slater 35th on a list of the best athlete-golfers. More recently, finished fourth in the February AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour.
ICONS Cup Tournament Director Adrian Flaherty expressed his admiration for the 11-time World Champion: “He’s as comfortable performing on golf’s biggest stages as he is the Banzai Pipeline.”
Slater first got into to golf when he was 23, after following it on television (probably in between World Tour heats). Completely self-taught, he now averages 275 yards with a driver. He plays up to 150 rounds a year, taking his clubs with him to every tour stop he can. Sometimes, he plays golf every day of the week.
While you’d think most of Slater’s favorite personal moments have been in the water, he says, “I’ve spent some of the greatest times of my life with friends on the course talking about life.”
Who else will be joining him on Team USA? Legends Ken Griffey Jr., Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux of MLB lore; NBA sharpshooter Ray Allen; as well as NHL hall of famers Brett Hull and Mike Modano.
Officially, the tournament is Team USA versus The Rest of The World. But let’s be honest and call it what it is: Kelly Slater versus Being Average At Anything.
Want to read more about how much Kelly Slater loves golf? Here.
